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“Raven!” I cried. “What did you do?”
“I set the oven,” he said. “The stove, I mean. He has a gas stove.”
Had a gas stove. From the looks of it, there wasn’t much left of the kitchen. “Did...did we kill...”
“No,” he said. He reached for me and then grabbed my hand, pulling me into him. “No, no, Little Thief. We’re not murderers. Not unless they got in the way of the blast like idiots.”
That wasn’t comforting. “How did you...why...”
“Physics,” he said.
I stared at him. “What?”
“It’s a matter of physics. I’m a professional Russian,” he said.
I still didn’t understand. Maybe it was lost in the translation. The fire from the hole in the house lit up the area. Neighbors’ lights started turning on.
We needed to get going. “Let’s get out of here.”
He lifted me and pushed me to start running. “They’ll be after us. Or the police will be here in a minute. Get to the road. Walk fast but don’t run. Look normal.”
Easier said...
THE CHASE
As we walked through the night, cutting through side streets in the neighborhood, sirens filled the air. We didn’t pass any cruisers on our way, and I only hoped Corey and the others made it out without getting picked up by police.
We hurried, but no one appeared to be chasing us. Either they ran off after the blast, or…I didn’t want to assume they might be dead. Raven didn’t seem worried about it. I tried not to be. Hopefully they got the message that we’d be heading to Murdock’s house. We just needed to get there before they did.
It had to be two in the morning now. My heart was beating fast, but my body was tired and I felt sluggish. Raven eventually put an arm around me, and I leaned into him as I walked.
I was really feeling down. Was I getting sick? I tested for a fever, but it was hard to tell.
When Raven and I got to Colonial Lake near the apartments, I scanned the park. The cement surrounding the small lake was clear of people. Did Corey get lost? Avery wouldn’t have gotten lost. He knew the way. Or did he only know it by car?
“Please tell me they didn’t get picked up by someone else?” I turned to Raven. I didn’t expect him to be psychic and know, but I’d already lost a lot of people and I was ready to sit down and get taken away, too, giving up the chase, if everyone I cared about was going to get carted off not matter what I did.
Raven looked over the area and shook his head. “I’ve got a feeling Corey might have went to go save his brother.”
My jaw popped open. I grabbed Raven’s arm and shook it. “He’d do that?”
“He won’t want to wait,” Raven said. “Not for Brandon. Now when it’s his life. He thinks too much like me.”
I didn’t want to believe him. Corey wouldn’t just run off…
Suddenly, a person appeared from a sidewalk and ran across the street toward us. Raven got in my way, covering me.
As the person got close, I recognized the shape. “Corey?”
He jogged faster. When he got to us, he bent over, holding his chest and breathing heavy. “We lost Ethan.”
“What?” I asked. “Why? We need him.”
“He said he was going to find his wife. I couldn’t stop him. Avery went with him.” He looked at me. “He said you should call him for updates. He’d stay with him.”
I nodded. The traitor. He was going to tip off Alice. He knew the plan. Hopefully Avery could keep him safe…Avery the stoned taxi cab driver was in way deep now.
“Then we need to get to the house before anyone else,” Corey said. “Before they ruin the plan.”
I raced beside him toward the Sergeant Jasper that was near the lake. Every bone in my body wanted to simply take the elevator upstairs and pass out and let Raven and the others take care of it. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. I was dizzy, and it was late and my body was refusing to cooperate. I breathed in some cool air, hoping for some energy. With the cloud cover it was damp and dreary. I craved warmth.
Raven and Corey cut through the middle of the building, only to spill out on the other side to the parking lot. Corey scanned the area, and pointed to a black SUV. I scurried after them.
Raven went to the driver’s seat. “You’ve got a key?” I asked.
He grunted. I think it meant yes.
Corey got in the front passenger. I hopped in the back.
I collapsed into the seat, laying on my side. Raven turned the car on, and then the SUV lunged as he pulled around and raced out of the lot.
I closed my eyes, and tried to ignore the sounds of cars honking and screeching of tires. Russian driving.
??????
Eventually, I had to sit up, because Raven’s driving was even scarier when I couldn’t see what was happening. He slowed down enough to almost a stop at the entrance of Kiawah.
He rolled down the window. “Let us in,” he said.
The guard was a woman. “Where are you two headed?” she asked with a small smile, looking wary. She glanced at me in the back, and then a small look of surprise. “I mean three?”
I felt around my head, and found a rat’s nest of hair. “I was at…the gift shop earlier, got a flat and left my car here,” I said carefully. “I wanted to pick it up before it got towed. He’s here to help me fix it.”
The woman lifted a brow, weighing out my story and then eyeballed Raven, who appeared to be biting his tongue. Corey smiled pleasantly, nodding. He was probably the most normal looking one.
“I’ll give you twenty minutes,” she said. The guard pushed a button, and the gate lifted. I managed a quick wave in thanks as Raven continued on.
“We should stop,” I said. “We shouldn’t drive in. If Alice is at the house, she’ll spot us.”
“We don’t have time to pussyleg,” Raven said, and I assumed he meant pussyfoot, but he moved on before I could correct him. “And that guard lady is a snitch.”
“She gave us twenty,” Corey said. “But I’m willing to bet she’ll forget about us when she gets other people driving in later, like Eddie’s men.”
“We need a plan,” I said. “We don’t have Ethan to let us into his house. And we need to scout it before just barging in.”
“We don’t have time for plans,” Raven said. “We already had one.”
“Raven!” I grabbed his shoulder and squeezed hard. “I don’t want to kill Brandon if he’s stuck there with Alice. We don’t need to barge in and get shot at, either.”
He revved the engine, lunging the SUV forward and I leaned into his seat, b
ut then it slowed and he did a small turn. He slid the car into a parking spot near the closed gift shop.
“How far is the house from here?” he asked.
I pointed in the direction. “I know which one. If we walk from the beach...”
“We’ll be spotted quickly,” he said. “But we don’t have a choice. They’ll be expecting people coming in cars, they’ll be keeping an eye on the road. We’ll have to take the beach.”
“I’ll know when we get close,” I said. “We can circle the house, maybe peek in a few windows and see who might be home.”
Corey groaned and opened his door. “I’m going to get shot at today. I can tell.”
Raven climbed out. When we were standing at the edge of the beach together, he pointed at us to get our attention. “Don’t plan anything. Our only goal is to get our team out. Nothing heroic beyond that. Get them out and run. No trying to get revenge, okay?”
I pouted. “If they aren’t hurt,” I said. “But no promises if they’ve even got a little bruise.”
He smiled, and it lit up his dark eyes. He pressed his hand to the top of my head, and scratched at my scalp with his rough fingers. “My little thief is back.”
I moved toward the beach, ready to get going. “What do you mean, back?”
“You’ve been...dead,” he said, doing a short jog to catch up with me. “The last few weeks. Ever since Florida.”
“I wasn’t dead,” I said. I was walking on the sand now, and had to focus on it to make sure I didn’t trip on a dune. “I was working with you. Remember? On those houses?”
“He’s right,” Corey said, walking up beside me. “You’ve been out of it. You wouldn’t smile. You’d barely eat, you know?”
Raven put an arm around my neck. “Now you’re ready to kick someone’s ass. I’ve missed you.”
Maybe I hadn’t been myself, but was he really only happy with me when I was scared out of my skin, and running on the edge?
